48 thoughts on “P&Q: Tarte Tatin”

Question: does the skillet have to be cast iron, or can it be aluminum or non-stick (as long as it’s oven-proof)? Seems the apples wouldn’t stick on a pan that’s oven-proof coated? Excited to try this one!

Thanks Jill – I did the same (non-stick) and it worked good (90% good). 2 apple quarters were left – but they were easily placed with the rest. Mine took unreasonably long to get caramelized, maybe that’s why there were a few “dark” apples on the top. Tastes great – not the most pretty thing to photograph!

Yet another question: (I need to start taking that book with me to the store) — so I come home with a bunch of Braeburn apples. Will those work? I’m reading Dorie’s list and see no mention of these – for some reason, I thought these needed to be sweet, red apples… !

I’ll be using Braeburns too. I’ve done quite a lot of baking with them and like them. They hold their shape well and have a nice balance of sweetness with tartness. So Mike, I think you’ll be fine — if not, we’ll both have company in our problems!

I don’t have any oven safe pans, at least nothing that I would be comfortable with using. Instead I cooked the apples and caramel in a regular 9-inch frying pan (with as high an edge as I had). When the mixture had caramalized I carefully poured it into a sprayed 9-inch cake pan and covered it with the crust. Based on all the recipes I have seen and the few I have tried, this dessert is supposed to be rustic in appearance so don’t worry too much about sliding it into a cake pan. Just press everything together again with a spatula.

Pam, I’ve never made a Tartin either, but I have a DVD of Julia Child making one. She flipped it over and the apples stuck and went everywhere but on the serving platter. If she can make a wonderful presentation out of that, then I don’t think it’s impossible for anyone!

Okay…. not sure if I just didnt cook the caramel long enough before it went into the oven, or if I didnt cook it in the oven long enough. The puff pastry looked golden and sufficiently puffed. However, when I flipped it, the apples seemed awfully pale to me, and the caramel was really soupy. Is that what it is supposed to be like?

With all that said, I have never had a tarte tatin. So, Im not sure what Im really looking for. I just know that my outcome did not match the picture in the book.

i’d say that ideally it shouldn’t be too soupy/liquidy by the time you flip it out (you shouldn’t have a ton of liquid caramel that runs onto the plate). i always take my caramel pretty dark to start (w/out being burned, of course).

I think mine came out the right color, but it definitely took a good bit longer than 15 minutes to get there. I am still getting reaccustomed to working with an electric stove, so that might have been part of my problem.

I’ve decided to make my own puff pastry for this one–I haven’t made puff pastry since cooking school! We’ll see just how much puff it has. I have a bag of Macintosh apples in the fridge, but I think I had better go out and buy some Golden Delicious. The Macs might turn into applesauce on me. Having it for dessert tomorrow night!

Going to make this Wednesday as I have a friend coming over for tea that evening! So I’ll have two Dorie-posts this week after being absent for a looooong time: Tuesday I’ll write post about the Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday (cup)Cake and Wednesday about the Tarte Tatin. I’m soooo excited!!!!

Would anyone mind letting me know the number of apples I need? I’m at work and forgot to look before I left this morning, and I need to pick them up to make this tonight. I’m pretty sure I’ve got everything else, but if there is something out of the ordinary please advise!

We just finished eating mine, and it was fantastic! The apples didn’t stick at all, though they were a bit dark in spots. I used a cast iron pan and puff pastry. There wasn’t a problem with caramel running, but flipping it was a bit stressful: very hot and very heavy! We had it with creme fraiche.

Now a couple of questions:

Do I just post on my blog for tomorrow?
Do I link to here?
What does P&Q stand for anyway?

I just made the tarte tatin and it came out wonderfully. My husband had to help me flip the tarte because the pan was so big and I needed moral support, but it flipped perfectly (only one quarter was stuck to the pan) and everyone loved it. Yummy!

I am going to make this “anniversary” treat for my wedding anniversary tomorrow and post a day late – sorry but I hope you will understand. My honey and I celebrate “48” years – how can it be? What an adventure!